Sharon firm on calm week before talks

Anticipating another dispute with the United States over the Mideast crisis, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Sunday that he would resist any American effort to do away with his demand for seven days of quiet before he considers negotiating with the Palestinians.

Sharon's remarks were aimed at pre-empting a much-anticipated speech in Kentucky by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is expected on Monday to lay out the Bush administration's "vision" for Mideast peace after nearly 14 months of bloodshed.

Powell's speech reportedly will not directly mention Sharon's seven-day condition. But U.S. officials believe the condition has become an obstacle to progress toward a lasting cease-fire, and Powell will indirectly address it by calling on the two sides to immediately begin implementing the truce steps laid out by the U.S.-led Mitchell Commission.

Sharon, reiterating his vow to never negotiate with the Palestinians while under fire, said Sunday that the U.S. had "agreed" to the seven-day period when it did not object when he proposed it months ago.

"We are committed to the Mitchell Report and its sequence and that says . . . a full cessation of terror, violence and incitement," Sharon said after meeting with European Union envoys in Jerusalem. "That is what we agreed, and that is our position."

The issue has become the latest point of contention between the U.S. and Israel since relations were strained after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. While Israel at first welcomed the U.S.-led war on terror, it has since chafed at U.S. urgings that it scale back its iron-fisted handling of the Palestinian uprising while the U.S. and its allies wage war in Afghanistan.

Israelis claim to leave city

The Israelis announced Sunday that they had pulled their tanks and troops out of the West Bank city of Tulkarem, one of six they re-invaded after the Oct. 17 assassination of Cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi. The army remains in the Palestinian city of Jenin, despite repeated U.S. demands that it withdraw completely.

The Palestinians and foreign diplomats say the army has not fully withdrawn from Tulkarem and other towns, and that it still is choking off many cities by surrounding them with tanks.

Israeli officials say the measures are necessary to contain terror attacks originating from the cities. Last week, the army began shifting to pinpoint raids and other guerrilla warfare operations against alleged terrorists, designed to not raise as many objections from the international community.

Israeli officials said a bomb was found Sunday near the King David Hotel in Jerusalem where Sharon was meeting with the European officials. Police defused it without incident.

In the Gaza Strip, Israeli tanks and troops moved about 200 yards into Palestinian territory near the town of Beit Lahiya and killed two armed Palestinians heading for a nearby Jewish settlement, the military said. In addition, two Palestinians, ages 17 and 70, died of wounds suffered in earlier clashes with Israeli forces.

Powell touts `solid plan'

U.S. officials have billed Powell's speech in Louisville on Monday as a major statement on the Mideast. It will not introduce a new peace plan, however, but will reinforce the Bush administration's commitment to ending the conflict, which has cost some 900 lives.

The Bush administration fears that Mideast violence will obstruct U.S.-led efforts to recruit support for its war on terror. As a lure to get the two sides to stop fighting, President Bush and his aides in recent days have begun talking about the benefits of returning to peace talks, including support for a new state of Palestine but only if Israel's security is assured.

"People keep asking for a new plan. We have a plan. It's a solid plan. It's called the Mitchell committee report," Powell said on "Fox News Sunday."

The Mitchell plan, co-authored by former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell, calls for a period of calm and then "confidence building measures" leading to a renewal of peace negotiations. Among the measures required of Israel would be a "freeze" on all Jewish settlement building in Palestinian territory.

Powell said he was in no position to waive demands by Sharon for seven days of total calm as a condition for implementing the Mitchell plan.

"I didn't impose the seven days, so therefore I can't waive it. We'll have to see how Mr. Sharon reacts to my speech . . . ," said Powell on ABC's "This Week."

The Mitchell plan also calls on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to crack down on radicals' attacks against Israel, and Powell expressed frustration Sunday that Arafat has not done more. "He needs to make a 100 percent effort . . . and we need to see results that reflect that 100 percent effort," Powell said.

While the actual wording of Powell's speech had not been finalized, its outlines were presented to both Israelis and Palestinians in recent days and heatedly debated in the local press. Each side said their main concern was how strenuously the Bush administration would push the two sides afterwards.

Powell is expected to announce that two U.S. envoys, Asst. Sec. of State William Burns and former U.S. Marine Corps commander Anthony Zinni, will soon be traveling to the region, perhaps as early as this weekend.

Sharon defends 7-day demand

Sharon and his aides insist that the seven-day period of quiet is crucial to test whether Arafat is serious about stopping the Palestinian uprising. In the past, they allege, they have agreed to negotiate with him and offer concessions only to have him remove the reins from the militants once again.

But diplomats say the Bush administration regrets not having objected to the condition when it was posed by Sharon. Critics say it essentially negates any possibility for diplomatic progress because it gives any radical with a gun a virtual veto over the process.